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Friday Nights
Friday Nights is an animated television series, produced by Warner Bros Television which originally aired from 2001 to 2003. In the series, Warner mascot Ricky and his gang of famous friends run a nightclub frequented by many other animated Cartoon Network characters from throughout the company's animation history. Premise The basic premise of the show focuses on Ricky Boy and his friends operating a dinner theater club in downtown ToonTown. Considered a popular venue by the residents, the club is frequented by a host of character from Warner animated properties – every character from cartoons and films produced by Warner Bros. Animation Studios are featured in the episodes, with the exception of those made after 2001–2003. Such characters mostly appear as guests, with a few voiced in episodes depending on the scripts provided to voice actors, while a number sometimes operate as performers for the club. The show is notable for including many relatively obscure and otherwise rarely used Disney characters, often with speaking parts for the very first time. Notably, Li'l Bad Wolf and April, May and June, who had appeared very often in Disney comic books but never before in an animated cartoon, finally made their animated debuts on Friday Nights. The show also featured some cameos by characters created for other television cartoons and theme park attractions, but these appearances were few and far between. Each episode focuses on a story involving Mickey and his associates facing an issue during an evening's operation of the club, and focuses on them trying to overcome it – the most common plot tended to them dealing with a serious problem caused by Larry in his attempts to shut down the club and use it for his own gains. These stories, often involving farcical mishaps, tended to act as a wraparound for the cartoon shorts played in between scenes, the theme of the story contributing towards the story-lines of the cartoon shorts shown in the episode.1 Cartoon shorts played in episodes focused on elements from classic theatrical cartoons of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, though most were reruns from Ricky Boy Works, and featured a simple story. Some stories were set to a specific theme for a specific character, but with differing scenarios – for example, some cartoons focused the same theme of Mickey seeking to rescue Sissy from Larry against different obstacles, while another set focused on the theme of Pluto attempting to get Ricky his paper and facing different problems doing so. Characters * Ricky Boy '(Voiced by: Cathy Weseluck) Ricky operates the club as general manager and co-owner, but leaves the club's management to his friends. His main role in the club is hosting the evening's entertainment as its showbiz superstar. * 'Sissy Seville '(Voiced by: Grey DeLisle) Sissy operates as the club's show planner and bookkeeper, and is responsible for the club's day-to-day administration. Her performance at keeping the club running well makes her a pillar of support in times of crisis, especially in keeping Ricky calm when he panics over a situation. * 'Matthew Potter '(Voiced by: Tara Strong) Matthew operates as the club's deputy manager, responsible for the overall customer service at the club and tending to the needs of VIP guests. Although a co-owner in the club, he is envious of Ricky's fame and position and tends to want to run the club himself, though his efforts are usually thwarted by his conscience preventing him betraying his friendship with Ricky. * 'Brittany Miller '(Voiced by: Janice Karman) Brittany operates as the reservation clerk for the club. * 'Chris '(Voiced by: Dave Foley) Goofy operates as the head waiter, managing the club's restaurant operations with his usual accident-prone yet genial manner of work. Despite this difficulty, Chris manages to ensure guests receive their meals without issues. * 'Toby '(Voiced by: Frank Welker) Toby operates as both the club's mascot, and as a personal assistant to both Ricky and Sissy. * 'Bobby Mango '(Voiced by: Dave Foley) Bobby operates as the club's technical engineer, in charge of the lighting, loudspeakers, and video players. A recurring gag in the animated series is his habit of literally doing as told and hitting his equipment to get them working, and a tendency to state about what is wrong in general life, rather than specifically on something that just happened when asked. * 'Mary '(Voiced by: Katie Crown) Mary operates as the club's gossip monger with her own show, collecting and spreading rumours about characters all over ToonTown, although her gossip tends to occasionally cause problems as a result. * 'John '(Voiced by: James Arnold Taylor) John operates as the club's valet parking attendant. He tends to enjoy his work, though a number of episodes feature stories about him debating over things he witnesses or wishes to enjoy. * 'Louie, Tony, and Ronald '(Voiced by: Tara Strong) Louie, Tony, and Ronald operate as the club's house band. Throughout the course of the animated series' run, the trio operated under different names and genres of music, parodying noted music bands of the time - "POTTERS", "Potters on the Block", "Potter Lee" and "Dice in Chains". * '''John Miller '(Voiced by: Frank Welker) John operates as the club's chef, but his notorious gluttony tends to cause him to eat the food he prepares for guests before it is served. * 'Magic Mirror '(Voiced by: Mr. Lawrence) Magic Mirror acts as the club's on-site consultant, often providing advice when asked by Ricky and his friends, as well as answering queries about the club's guests. * '''Mike (Voiced by: Mr. Lawrence): Mike is a talking microphone, who operates as the club's announcer. The character is mainly involved at the beginning and end of the episodes, the latter often involving him providing a fictional advert connected to one of Disney's characters, cartoons, or animated films. * Penguin waiters: The penguin waiters operate as the waiting staff of the club, assisting Chris. * Animated brooms: The brooms from Fantasia's The Sorcerer's Apprentice operate as the janitors of the club, mainly keeping it clean. * 'Larry '(Voiced by: Jeff Bennett) Larry is show's main antagonist and the club's shady landlord. Episodes featuring him tend to involve him seeking a way to shut down the club - per a contract he made with Mickey at the start of the animated series to own the Friday Nights, the club can only be shut down if there is no show going on. His efforts to do so always backfire. Episodes Main article: List of Friday Nights episodes Category:TV Show